Cyberpunk 2077: Serious allegations of transphobia – Players call for a...

Do the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 have a transphobia problem? After the release, serious allegations are raised. Now players are calling for a boycott.

Warsaw, Poland – Just published and the first reviews are already hailing. Even if Cyberpunk 2077 is generally very highly praised, some testers also have strong criticisms and accusations to offer. Nothing new in itself, after all, the Polish development studio has CD Project RED, which also produced the games for The Witcher, already had negative reviews. But this time it even becomes a boycott from Cyberpunk 2077 called. You can read here why the game should be boycotted and whether the allegations are justified.

Cyberpunk 2077: Transgender as a pure fetish – objectification as a sign of transphobia

The first allegations that CD Project RED and partly too Cyberpunk 2077 transphobic appeared in 2019. Because published in June 2019 CDPR a controversial poster depicting a feminine person with an abnormally large male genital area. The person depicted was used for an advertisement for the in-game drink Chromanticure and brought CDPR loads of negative criticism. Fans criticized as early as 2019 that this poster was exploitative, mocking and transphob would. CDPR however, defended the marketing measure and the poster, because it was intended to show how companies in Cyberpunk 2077 consider the body as an object and only use it for their own purposes – CDPR wanted to shock consciously with the poster.

Die Transfrau Stacey Henly from Polygon Magazin has described in a detailed article why both the statements by CDPR, as well as Cyberpunk 2077 per se, transphob are and discriminate against trans * people. So did CDPR on Twitter transphoben “Joke” and used a trans * positive hashtag for their own marketing purposes. The poster is also included Henly not well gone, because the excuse of CD Project RED was not, in their opinion, affirmed in the game. Because based on their opinion Cyberpunk 2077 still on cis gender stereotypes instead of offering the promised flexibility.

Cyberpunk 2077: Criticism of restricted voting – that’s why the game should be transphobic

Cyberpunk 2077 offered trans * people the hope of finally being represented in a game, because the genital area of ​​the character can be individually adjusted. For example, you can design a figure with a female breast and male genitalia or choose that there is no genital part. This would also represent people who do not clearly assign themselves to any gender.

However, the voice selection looks very different. Because the voice that appears feminine determines the sex of the character as feminine, while the masculine or deeper voice identifies the character as a man. This is a problem since, after Henlythat the voice is far more important than the intimate area for many trans * people. Accordingly, for the realistic representation, she would have wished that it would be possible to set a deeper voice for a “more feminine” body and still be able to play as a woman or be addressed in the game with the pronoun she (she / her) will.

Also for people who do not feel they belong to any gender, there is in Cyberpunk 2077 thus no representation, as you can only choose between a deep “male” or a higher “female” voice. Also criticized Henlythat you didn’t encounter any trans * NPCs or characters in the game itself. This, in their opinion, underscores the Transphobia from Cyberpunk 2077 and of course also from developers CD Project RED.

Cyberpunk 2077: Fans vehemently defend CD Projekt RED after allegations of transphobia

Many online magazines, including CBR, them and Syrup, supported the side of Henly out and condemned CD Project RED as Cyberpunk 2077. The fans, on the other hand, quickly sided with Cyberpunk 2077 and countered the critics that they would overreact. In a Reddit forum there is extensive discussion of what is really true of the allegations. Some users who identify themselves as trans * also speak up and give interesting insights and explain the facts Henly and the other magazines.

Some agree Henly agree and condemn CD Project RED not only because of their statements, but also because of their origin. With Poland currently getting noticed in the media mostly due to negative headlines about anti-LGBTQ + policies, some conclude that too CD Project RED that’s why transphob be. CDPR Judging on the basis of discriminatory statements is certainly justified, but in our opinion one should not be judged on the basis of origin CDPR Transphobia accuse.

Some trans * users see the poster and also Cyberpunk 2077 even positive, as in the dystopian future of the gaming world everything is objectified and used for advertising. All people, whether trans * or not, are sexualized. One user even goes so far as to say that the objectification is at least “positive” and implies that non-binary and trans * bodies are attractive. CD Projekt RED also had to answer for Crunch and Cyberpunk 2077 made headlines with this slippery love item.

Disclaimer: We expressly distance ourselves from right-wing extremist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic or otherwise discriminatory statements, because we have no place for hatred. With asterisks * or colons: we want to address all genders, whether cis, trans *, non-binary or others.

Title list image: © CD Projekt RED / pixabay (Montage)